The Qur’anic Root A B W

1. The semantic core and the root in early Arabic

In its direct application, ab (أَبٌ) denotes a man in a paternal relationship to a child. This is a familiar, fundamental meaning in early Arabic and occurs repeatedly in the Qur’an. Yet in Arabic the word does more than name a biological relationship: it can also be used in connection with ancestors, care, and certain social roles.

Arabic dictionaries record the verb abā yaʾbū (أَبَا يَأْبُو) for becoming a father or acting as one. Abawtu al-qawma (أَبَوْتُ القَوْمَ) means that someone acted as a father to a group. Yaʾbū al-yatīma (يَأْبُو اليَتِيمَ) is likewise recorded for someone feeding and raising an orphan as a father would. The verbal noun ubuwwah (أُبُوَّة) denotes fatherhood and the paternal relationship.

These uses help explain the breadth of the root’s semantic field. Fatherhood in language may concern either biological descent or a role in nurture and care. Their association does not establish that both features are present every time ab occurs. Someone may be a biological father without having raised the child, while another may act as a father without being the biological parent.

Some lexicographers have made nurture and feeding central to their explanation of this root. That analysis fits expressions such as yaʾbū al-yatīma (يَأْبُو اليَتِيمَ), but the available evidence does not by itself establish that the concept of fatherhood originally developed from feeding. It is therefore preferable to treat fatherhood and generational relationship as the noun ab’s primary meaning, and nurture as a related application, rather than as the proven historical origin of the entire family.

Fathers and ancestors in pre-Islamic poetry

A poem attributed to the pre-Islamic Arab poet ʿAdī ibn Zayd says:

«أَيْنَ آبَاؤُنَا وَأَيْنَ بَنُوهُمْ
أَيْنَ آبَاؤُهُمْ وَأَيْنَ الْجُدُودُ»

“Where are our fathers, and where are their sons? Where are their fathers, and where are the ancestors?”

Here ābāʾ (آباء) appears alongside banūn (بنون), “sons,” and judūd (جدود), “forefathers.” The poet speaks of passing generations and the impermanence of life. In this setting, ābāʾ is not limited to living fathers or people’s immediate fathers: it points to earlier generations. The accompanying judūd broadens the generational picture and recalls those who have passed away; it does not necessarily establish an absolute boundary between the two words.

A line attributed to Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā also says:

«وَلَوْلَا أَنْ يَنَالَ أَبَا طَرِيفٍ
عَذَابٌ مِنْ مَلِيكٍ أَوْ نَكَالُ»

“And were it not for the fear that Abū Ṭarīf might suffer torment or punishment from a ruler…”

Abā Ṭarīf (أَبَا طَرِيفٍ) here is a person’s kunyah, a familiar Arabic naming construction that can be formed with abū. Such a construction does not necessarily prove that the person has a child bearing the corresponding name: a kunyah can function as an established designation for someone.

Together with the uses recorded in dictionaries, these witnesses show the ab family’s presence in early Arabic in family relationships, ancestral connections, and social naming and address. Dictionary examples whose date of use is unclear must not, however, be assigned to the pre-Islamic period without evidence.

2. Ab in the Qur’an: the immediate father and family relationship

One of the clearest Qur’anic applications of ab is the relationship between Joseph and Jacob:

«إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ»

“When Joseph said to his father, ‘My father, I saw eleven stars, and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating before me.’”

(Yūsuf 12:4)

Li-abīhi (لِأَبِيهِ) refers to Joseph’s father, Jacob. Later in the story, Joseph’s brothers repeatedly use abīnā (أَبِينَا), abānā (أَبَانَا), abīkum (أَبِيكُمْ), and similar forms. Their subject may be the father’s affection for his children, his instructions and trust, or anxiety concerning their brother.

For example:

«إِذْ قَالُوا لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ»

“When they said, ‘Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we are, although we are a strong group. Our father is clearly mistaken.’”

(Yūsuf 12:8)

Abīnā (أَبِينَا) and abānā (أَبَانَا) both refer to the same person. Their different forms result from their grammatical roles: the first follows the preposition ilā (إِلَىٰ), and the second is the noun governed by inna (إِنَّ). Their difference in form does not create two kinds of fatherhood.

Greater affection, the children’s judgment of their father, and his place in the family are understood from the story’s context. None of these features alone is part of the lexical definition of ab.

In Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:23, two women explain why they are standing aside at the watering place:

«قَالَتَا لَا نَسْقِي حَتَّىٰ يُصْدِرَ الرِّعَاءُ وَأَبُونَا شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ»

“They said, ‘We do not water our animals until the shepherds return, and our father is an old man.’”

(Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:23; part of the verse)

Abūnā (أَبُونَا) refers to the two women’s father, while shaykhun kabīr (شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ) describes his old age. This description is not the meaning of ab; it is a feature of the particular person in this account.

In Maryam 19:28, abūki (أَبُوكِ) also appears alongside ummuki (أُمُّكِ):

«يَا أُخْتَ هَارُونَ مَا كَانَ أَبُوكِ امْرَأَ سَوْءٍ وَمَا كَانَتْ أُمُّكِ بَغِيًّا»

“Sister of Aaron, your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an immoral woman.”

(Maryam 19:28)

The speakers invoke Mary’s father and mother to assess her situation against their knowledge of her family. The paternal relationship is clear, but a judgment about the father’s goodness or badness does not follow from ab itself: it comes from the speakers’ words and the setting of the exchange.

3. Abawān: father and mother, or two ancestors?

The dual form of ab is particularly important because it has two different applications in the Qur’an.

Abawān meaning father and mother

Al-Nisāʾ 4:11 says:

«وَلِأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِنْ كَانَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ»

“And for his parents, for each of them, one sixth of what he leaves, if he has a child.”

(Al-Nisāʾ 4:11; part of the verse)

Abawayhi (أَبَوَيْهِ) here refers to the deceased person’s father and mother. This understanding does not rest on the dual form alone: the same verse continues with the mother’s share, fa-li-ummihi al-thuluthu (فَلِأُمِّهِ الثُّلُثُ), “then his mother has one third,” making clear that both parents are meant.

Arabic has an established construction in which a masculine designation is used for a pair consisting of a man and a woman. In abawān, ab supplies the basis for the dual, but the resulting form can refer to father and mother.

Al-Kahf 18:80 also says:

«وَأَمَّا الْغُلَامُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَا أَنْ يُرْهِقَهُمَا طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا»

“As for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would burden them with rebellion and kufr.”

(Al-Kahf 18:80)

Abawāhu (أَبَوَاهُ) here likewise refers to father and mother. In Al-Aʿrāf 7:27, abawaykum (أَبَوَيْكُمْ) addresses the children of Adam and refers to the two predecessors expelled from the Garden. That context concerns the first father and mother of humankind, rather than each listener’s immediate parents.

Abawān meaning two male ancestors

In Yūsuf 12:6, however, the same dual construction has another application:

«وَكَذَٰلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَبُّكَ وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِنْ تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَىٰ أَبَوَيْكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ»

“Thus your Lord will choose you, teach you some of the interpretation of events, and complete His favor upon you and the family of Jacob, as He completed it before upon your two ancestors, Abraham and Isaac. Your Lord is knowing and wise.”

(Yūsuf 12:6)

Abawayka (أَبَوَيْكَ) here refers to Abraham and Isaac. Isaac is Jacob’s father and Joseph’s grandfather, while Abraham belongs to the generation before him. They are therefore not Joseph’s father and mother, but two male ancestors.

This Qur’anic example clearly shows that abawān does not always mean one father and one mother. The verse names the two people concerned, removing the possibility of that confusion.

The form abawayhi (أَبَوَيْهِ) occurs again at the end of Joseph’s story:

«فَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا عَلَىٰ يُوسُفَ آوَىٰ إِلَيْهِ أَبَوَيْهِ وَقَالَ ادْخُلُوا مِصْرَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ آمِنِينَ»

“When they entered Joseph’s presence, he welcomed his parents to his side and said, ‘Enter Egypt in security, if The God wills.’”

(Yūsuf 12:99)

«وَرَفَعَ أَبَوَيْهِ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ وَخَرُّوا لَهُ سُجَّدًا»

“He raised his parents onto the throne, and they fell down before him in prostration.”

(Yūsuf 12:100; part of the verse)

In the context of Joseph’s family returning to him, abawayhi (أَبَوَيْهِ) is understood in these two verses as his father and mother. Yet the text does not separately explain the name or precise relationship of the woman accompanying his father. Details beyond the text should therefore not be inserted into the translation.

The comparison yields a clear result: abawān is the dual construction associated with ab, but context determines whom it denotes. It can refer to father and mother, to two ancestors, or to the first father and mother of a line of descendants.

4. Ābāʾ: fathers, ancestors, and the legacy of earlier generations

The familiar Qur’anic plural of ab is ābāʾ (آباء). It often extends beyond the immediate father to ancestors and earlier generations.

Ishmael among Jacob’s ābāʾ

One of the clearest examples occurs in Al-Baqarah 2:133:

«أَمْ كُنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِيهِ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِي قَالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلَٰهَكَ وَإِلَٰهَ آبَائِكَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ»

“Were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his sons, ‘What will you worship after me?’ They said, ‘We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac—one God—and to Him we submit.’”

(Al-Baqarah 2:133)

Ishmael is included among Jacob’s ābāʾ in this verse. According to the family relationships stated elsewhere in the Qur’an, Ishmael and Isaac are both Abraham’s sons, and Jacob descends from Isaac. Ishmael is thus Jacob’s paternal uncle, not his immediate father.

This use shows that Arabic ābāʾ can include a senior paternal uncle in the family, in addition to fathers and direct ancestors. It denotes a family and generational group, rather than a list whose every member must be the person’s biological father.

A similar extension across generations appears in Joseph’s words:

«وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ آبَائِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ»

“I have followed the way of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

(Yūsuf 12:38; part of the verse)

Ābāʾī (آبَائِي) here includes Joseph’s immediate father and earlier ancestors. “My fathers” therefore reflects the Arabic construction, while an explanation such as “my father and forefathers” can make the range of the relationship clearer.

Abraham as the ab of a community

Al-Ḥajj 22:78 says:

«مِلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ»

“The way of your father Abraham.”

(Al-Ḥajj 22:78; part of the verse)

In this expression, abīkum (أَبِيكُمْ) is singular, but its attached pronoun refers to a group. Abraham is called the father of the recipients in a passage concerning his way, or millah.

This application cannot be confined to an immediate father: the verse addresses many people living long after Abraham. Fatherhood here concerns ancestral background and belonging to Abraham’s way.

This does not make “religious leader” or “imam” the primary Qur’anic meaning of ab. Other verses also give Abraham the position of an imam, but that position does not change the lexical meaning of ab. Here Abraham is the father and ancestor being invoked; the connection with his way is supplied by context.

Ābāʾ and following earlier generations

A widespread Qur’anic use of ābāʾ occurs in the words of people who trace their practices and beliefs to their predecessors:

«وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ»

“When they are told, ‘Follow what The God has sent down,’ they say, ‘Rather, we follow what we found our fathers practicing.’ Even if their fathers understood nothing properly and were not guided?”

(Al-Baqarah 2:170)

Ābāʾanā (آبَاءَنَا) refers to earlier generations whose conduct and beliefs have become a standard for their successors. The Qur’an does not use ābāʾ itself to mean ignorance or error; it criticizes unexamined adherence to people who may have lacked understanding and guidance.

Al-Zukhruf 43:22 reports a similar claim:

«بَلْ قَالُوا إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ مُهْتَدُونَ»

“Rather, they said, ‘We found our fathers following a way, and we are guided by following in their footsteps.’”

(Al-Zukhruf 43:22)

Alongside this kind of adherence, the Qur’an also records following the way of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Yūsuf 12:38. A connection to one’s fathers therefore does not in itself establish a belief’s truth or falsehood. The criticism concerns treating family precedent as sufficient reason to accept a belief.

The same distinction appears in family loyalty. Al-Tawbah 9:23 forbids believers to take their fathers and brothers as awliyāʾ when they prefer kufr to faith. The paternal relationship remains, but it does not entail unconditional obedience or allegiance.

Qur’anic ābāʾ can thus concern descent, the intellectual and cultural legacy of earlier generations, or a family bond placed alongside an ethical or religious choice. These implications arise from how a passage relates to the ancestors; they are not all fixed components of the word’s lexical definition.

5. Biological fatherhood, care, and attribution of descent

The distinction between ab and wālid

Wālid (والد) comes from W L D and emphasizes the relationship of birth and procreation. In ordinary use, it denotes the father in relation to a child’s birth, whereas ab can also embrace ancestors and certain broader family relationships.

For example, Luqmān 31:33 says:

«لَا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَنْ وَلَدِهِ وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ هُوَ جَازٍ عَنْ وَالِدِهِ شَيْئًا»

“No father can avail his child in anything, nor can any child avail his father in anything.”

(Luqmān 31:33; part of the verse)

Wālid (والد) and mawlūd (مولود) here express the two sides of the relationship of procreation. In Yūsuf 12:6, however, abawayka (أَبَوَيْكَ) denotes two of Joseph’s ancestors, neither of whom is his immediate father.

This shows that ab can have a broader range of application than wālid. The boundary should not be made absolute, however: in clear uses both can refer to the same biological father. The distinction concerns their semantic emphasis and range, rather than two completely separate kinds of fatherhood.

Adoption and fatherhood

In Al-Aḥzāb 33:4, the Qur’an says:

«وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَاءَكُمْ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ»

“He has not made those whom you call your sons your sons.”

(Al-Aḥzāb 33:4; part of the verse)

The following verse then says:

«ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ»

“Call them by their fathers: that is more just in the sight of The God. If you do not know their fathers, they are your brothers in religion and your affiliated companions.”

(Al-Aḥzāb 33:5; part of the verse)

These verses distinguish calling someone a son from the existence of an actual paternal relationship. Udʿūhum li-ābāʾihim (ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ) concerns recognizing and respecting family descent, rather than denying the possibility of caring for, loving, or supporting a child whose father is someone else.

Another verse relates to the same issue:

«مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا»

“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but the Messenger of The God and the Seal of the Prophets. The God knows all things.”

(Al-Aḥzāb 33:40)

The denial of fatherhood here occurs in the context of adoptive relationships and the Prophet’s position. The verse distinguishes the role of a messenger from paternal relationship and prevents a bond established by social convention from automatically becoming biological fatherhood with its legal consequences.

Likewise, the extension of Arabic ab to ancestors or paternal roles does not make every relationship of care legally equivalent to biological fatherhood in matters of descent. The breadth of a word’s meaning and the rules governing lineage are distinct questions.

Ab in connection with care and righteousness

Al-Kahf 18:82 says of two orphaned boys:

«وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا»

“Beneath it was a treasure belonging to them, and their father was a righteous man.”

(Al-Kahf 18:82; part of the verse)

Abūhumā (أَبُوهُمَا) refers to the father shared by the two boys; ṣāliḥan (صَالِحًا), “righteous,” describes him. The verse addresses the father’s righteousness, but that quality must not be added to the lexical meaning of ab. A father may be righteous or otherwise; the paternal relationship alone guarantees neither.

This distinction becomes especially important in passages about Abraham and his father.

6. Abraham and ab: family relationship without endorsing the father’s beliefs

Several Qur’anic passages describe Abraham’s relationship with someone called his ab:

«وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ لِأَبِيهِ آزَرَ أَتَتَّخِذُ أَصْنَامًا آلِهَةً إِنِّي أَرَاكَ وَقَوْمَكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ»

“When Abraham said to his father Āzar, ‘Do you take idols as gods? I see you and your people in manifest error.’”

(Al-Anʿām 6:74)

The Qur’an calls the person Abraham addresses abīhi (أَبِيهِ), “his father,” and also supplies the name Āzar (آزَر).

Lexically, ab can denote an immediate father or, in some uses, someone from an earlier generation in the extended family. This breadth does not by itself establish that Āzar was Abraham’s uncle. Conversely, the use of ab alone does not settle every genealogical detail without further evidence. The direct reading is “Abraham’s father”; any more specific or different identification requires independent grounds.

In Maryam 19:42, 19:43, 19:44, 19:45, Abraham repeatedly uses yā abati (يَا أَبَتِ). For example:

«إِذْ قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ لِمَ تَعْبُدُ مَا لَا يَسْمَعُ وَلَا يُبْصِرُ وَلَا يُغْنِي عَنْكَ شَيْئًا»

“When he said to his father, ‘My father, why do you worship something that neither hears nor sees and can do nothing for you?’”

(Maryam 19:42)

Yā abati (يَا أَبَتِ) recurs as the conversation continues. The address can carry an intimate, familial tone, but its form alone does not imply agreement with everything the recipient believes or does. In these very verses Abraham opposes his father’s worship.

Al-Tawbah 9:114 also says:

«وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لِأَبِيهِ إِلَّا عَنْ مَوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَهَا إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِلَّهِ تَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُ إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لَأَوَّاهٌ حَلِيمٌ»

“Abraham’s asking forgiveness for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of The God, he dissociated himself from him. Abraham was deeply tenderhearted and forbearing.”

(Al-Tawbah 9:114)

Abīhi (أَبِيهِ) continues to express the paternal relationship, although Abraham’s religious relationship with his father has changed. Ab thus expresses family relationship without necessarily implying allegiance, acceptance of belief, or obedience.

The vocative construction yā abati

Yā abati (يَا أَبَتِ) is a familiar way to address one’s father. In the usual grammatical analysis, its final tāʾ replaces the possessive yāʾ in “my father.” This tāʾ does not mark the word as feminine or establish a new root.

The form does not occur only in Abraham’s conversation with his father. Joseph uses it in Yūsuf 12:4 and 12:100; one of the women of Midian says yā abati istaʾjirhu (يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ), “My father, hire him,” in Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:26; and in Al-Ṣāffāt 37:102 a son responds to his father with yā abati ifʿal mā tuʾmaru (يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ), “My father, do what you are commanded.”

These examples show that yā abati is a form of family address used in emotional, questioning, critical, or obedient exchanges. Its precise tone depends on the conversation, rather than on a fixed independent meaning extracted from the final tāʾ.

7. Special uses, distinct roots, and translation choices

Abū Lahab: a kunyah, not a new definition of father

Al-Masad 111:1 says:

«تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ»

“May the two hands of Abū Lahab perish, and he himself has perished.”

(Al-Masad 111:1)

Abī Lahab (أَبِي لَهَبٍ) is a person’s established kunyah. Its citation form is Abū Lahab (أَبُو لَهَبٍ); the grammatical construction here changes it to Abī Lahab.

This abī (أَبِي) must therefore not be confused with abī meaning “my father.” Nor should the basic translation force the kunyah into the literal “father of flame,” since it functions as a personal designation in the verse.

Lahab (لَهَب), “flame,” alongside abū may evoke associations for the reader, but the expression’s function as a kunyah and the direct meaning of A B W must remain distinct from any rhetorical or interpretive reading.

Distinguishing A B W (ab) from A B Y (abā)

A B W and A B Y look very similar in writing but are treated separately in the Qur’anic morphological index.

Ab (أَب) concerns a father and paternal relationship, whereas abā (أَبَىٰ), from A B Y, means to refuse or decline. For example:

«إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ»

“Except Iblīs, who refused and acted arrogantly.”

(Al-Baqarah 2:34; part of the verse)

Abā (أَبَىٰ) here belongs to the family of refusal, not fatherhood. Similar-looking forms and shared letters do not establish that the two roots have the same meaning.

Likewise, abban (أَبًّا) in wa-fākihatan wa-abban (وَفَاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا), “fruit and fodder,” in ʿAbasa 80:31 belongs to A B B and concerns vegetation and animal feed. It must not be confused with ab (أَبٌ), “father.”

Comparison with W L D (walada)

W L D concerns birth and procreation. Wālid (والد), wālidah (والدة), walad (ولد), and mawlūd (مولود) express the relationship from the perspective of birth and begetting.

Ab, by contrast, names a paternal relationship and can extend to ancestors. Thus abawayka (أَبَوَيْكَ) in Yūsuf 12:6 denotes two of Joseph’s ancestors, while wālid in passages such as Luqmān 31:33 emphasizes the relationship with a child through birth.

Yet the use of ab for a biological father is clear and abundant. The distinction between the roots must not be maintained by removing biological fatherhood from ab or by claiming that ab always means a caregiver, educator, or leader.

Comparison with A M M (umm)

In family usage, umm (أُمّ) means “mother.” Arabic sometimes expresses father and mother together through the dual of ab, abawān, and sometimes names ab and umm separately.

For example, ʿAbasa 80:34, 80:35, 80:36 describes a day when a person flees from their brother, mother, father, spouse, and children. Ummihi (أُمِّهِ) and abīhi (أَبِيهِ) occur separately there, whereas Al-Nisāʾ 4:11 expresses both through abawayhi (أَبَوَيْهِ).

This illustrates different ways of expressing family relationships, rather than a change in the concept of father or mother in each case.

Translation choices for Forqan

In ordinary use, ab (أَبٌ) should be rendered “father.” Forms such as abūhu (أَبُوهُ), abīhi (أَبِيهِ), abāhu (أَبَاهُ), and abīnā (أَبِينَا) are rendered “his father” or “our father,” according to their pronouns and roles in the sentence. Grammatical differences must not be turned into new meanings.

For ābāʾ (آباء), “fathers” or “ancestors” suits passages concerning earlier generations and adherence to their traditions. Where named people and broader family relationships are involved, as in Al-Baqarah 2:133, “fathers” with a brief explanation of its range may be more precise.

Translate abawān as “father and mother,” “parents,” or “two ancestors,” according to context. In Al-Nisāʾ 4:11 and Al-Kahf 18:80, “parents” is clear; in Yūsuf 12:6, where Abraham and Isaac are named, “your two ancestors” conveys the correct sense.

Yā abati (يَا أَبَتِ) can be rendered naturally as “my father” or “Father.” Expressions such as “my kind father” or “my dear father” are appropriate only when justified by tone and context; they are not obligatory meanings of the construction itself.

In a kunyah such as Abū Lahab (أَبُو لَهَبٍ), retain the established personal designation “Abū Lahab” in translation, since the expression identifies the person.

8. Conclusion

A B W forms a Qur’anic family of words concerning fathers and generational relationships. Ab directly means “father,” but its application can extend to a grandfather, ancestors, certain paternal relatives, and broader family relationships. Arabic evidence also records uses involving paternal roles and nurture, but these should not replace the primary meaning of paternal relationship.

Two Qur’anic distinctions are especially important. First, abawān can mean father and mother in one verse and two male ancestors in another. Second, ābāʾ is not necessarily confined to immediate fathers: in Al-Baqarah 2:133, Ishmael is included among Jacob’s ābāʾ. These examples show that the word must be assessed against the people’s actual relationships and the passage’s context.

In the Qur’an, paternal relationship does not in itself confer virtue, guidance, authority, or a right to unconditional obedience. A father may be believing, righteous, misguided, or opposed to his child’s path. Those qualities are known from people’s descriptions and conduct, not from ab.

The semantic core of this root’s Qur’anic use is paternal relationship and connection to an earlier generation: a bond beginning with the immediate father and extending, as language and context allow, to ancestors and broader family relationships. Nurture and care are related applications within this field, but neither is a universal condition of fatherhood, nor does either authorize treating every emotional or social bond as actual descent.